Bus Be Best Way to Beach

We celebrate the return of our Bus to the Beach Memorial weekend. Last year, in part to our Pirates on the Bus project, ridership increased by 90%. There are still empty seats on nearly every run.

Schedule and route map - can be viewed on the CARTA website.

Right- Bus Pirate Day at the beach, June 2023

Isle of Pirates Day 2024 will be Saturday, July 13. Read the details and sign up on Facebook. 

Service Begins with a Boom- The Beach Reach Shuttle began running Memorial Weekend and carried twice as many passengers as it did on the same weekend a year ago. All available parking on the Isle of Palms was evidently occupied for most of the weekend. Many people drove out to the beach, searched for parking, failed to find any and ended up driving back to the mainland an hour or more later, never having seen the beach. Some found our bus and some, with disappointed children, gave up and returned home. If you have to search for parking the bus will always be faster. Your kids won't be bored in the car. They'll be having the adventure of a trip on the bus. 

#40 Mount Pleasant Bus connects the Beach  Reach Shuttle to the rest of the CARTA system, leaving the Mary Street Transit Center downtown once an hour where it connects to eight other bus routes running to other parts of downtown, North Charleston, West Ashley and James Island. Find a link to maps of this route on the Ride Carta fixed routes page. 

Pirates vs. Barbie/Kenergy- Our pirates will return to the beach this summer, probably on July 4, but this year they'll have rivals, the crowd from Barbieland, ready to beach under the leadership of Ken and the living doll herself. Doing something like this on a major holiday is always a space shot. If you would like to help, let us know. It's pink vs. black, so choose  your clothing to show your sympathies. The pirate crew seems pretty committed, so we'll need the Barbies and the Bros to come of the bench and out to the beach. We'll be burying treasure on the beach, doing some pirate games with the public. Ken and his friends will "beach." Pirates will challenge the Island's rum supply again while the folks from Barbie Land have specialty cocktails of their own. The bartenders of IOP have never failed us yet and the bus assures a safe trip home for everyone. 

We may also have another bus to the  beach party at Container Bar on the #20 Route downtown. Last year's Pirate Party at Container Bar was a blast with sword fights, drama and  an exceptional effort from the food truck and the bar, 

Free Fair, Free Parking, Free Beach- Free parking is available near the stop in Mt. Pleasant Town Center on Market Center drive. However you can also take the #40 Mt. Pleasant bus from the Mary Street Transit Center in downtown Charleston for regular fare. The schedules for the beach reach shuttle and #40 are synchronized so you shouldn't have a wait at Mt. Pleasant Town Center. 

Electronic Wayfinding- The Beach Reach Shuttle is represented on the Transit App which will allow you to track it's location and get ETAs in real time. You can also use the Transit App and Google Maps / Transit to plan your transit trip to the beach from anywhere in the Lowcountry which has transit service, however since the shuttle only works on Summer weekends and holidays these services will report no service to IOP unless you have set the time and date for your trip when the service is running. Here is a Google Maps trip plan for Memorial Day from downtown Charleston to the beach.   You should download the transit app now if you don't already have it on your phone. 

left - Pitching our banner at the entrance to folly beach on Memorial weekend, 2018

Your Tax Dollars at Work- The shuttle is free thanks to contributions from the Tourism Tax funds of the City of Isle of Palms and Town of Mt. Pleasant. We've encouraged the support of IOP by awarding them the Key to the Sea, which resides in a wooden case at IOP City Hall. It's companion key was tossed into the waves last year to open the ocean and celebrate the restart of service on a cold, wet memorial day. 

You Have a Place at the Beach- The shuttle lets you off at the Charleston County Park on the front beach IOP. Since you don't have to pay for parking, use of the park is also free. That includes indoor, flush toilets in their air conditioned building, outdoor showers and changing rooms. 

IOP has City Bathrooms and Showers- In the middle of the commercial strip, the City of the Isle of Palms maintains it's own free shower and toilet facility. It's closer to many locations if you decide to beach west of the pier. 

Veteran Visits- If you are a veteran or active duty military, the VFW Post on the Coast will welcome you to their extraordinary beachfront location. Located next to the Windjammer, up a small walkway you'll find veterans enjoying a wonderful beachfront deck with a bonus view of the adjacent Windjammer stage where there is often music. The Post has toilets, a bar and sometimes food. There are events there throughout the summer. The VFW has been a strong supporter of the Beach Reach Shuttle since their members don't have to look for parking. 

IOP Front Beach Businesses- IOP has a wonderful, small beachfront business district with places to eat and shop. Let them know that you came on the bus since it's their tourism taxes helping pay for it. Here is a list of IOP restaurants. The ones near the bus stop are in the center of the island. 

Image right- A Bus Driver drink concocted by Coconut Joes on IOP as part of our July 2015 March to the Sea to help return Transit to the Atlantic. Has gold rum, red cherry and green lime (they ran out of limes that day) for the colors of the Best Friend train. 

Wonderful Wait- On your way home, the waiting area outside the park where the bus stops is shaded and has plentiful benches. With the sea breeze, it's probably the most comfortable bus stop in the Lowcountry on a hot summer day. 

Stopover on your way home. The #40 bus runs later than the Beach Shuttle so you can stop over on your way home at Mount Pleasant Town Centre. There's a Lowes, a movie theater, over 13 restaurants and many other shops and businesses. If you shower and change at the beach, you'll be OK to enjoy some time there. 

Not finished until we get to Folly. We still want a bus out to Folly Beach, where parking is now over $20 in their downtown area. Folly is a much tougher place to reach, but we were able to push the Folly Road bus further out to Sol Legare road at the Harris Teeter where it's an easy bike ride out to folly or a challenging walk, side walked all the way. Almost  there. We were also able to get frequency of service on the Folly Road bus increased. Bus ride to end of the Folly Road Bus line on Google Maps

The late Mary Smith appearing as Sylphide, our Transit Fairy

Nothing is Easy and even a Free Bus Isn't Free- It took seven long, hard years of grassroots advocacy aimed at both the East Cooper area and Folly Beach to get this shuttle running and we've put a lot of work into getting people to ride. All you need to do to make that effort worthwhile is to ride the shuttle and bring your friends. Several members of the team which fought to get the bus back out to the beach did not live to ride it. Julia Hamilton and Mary Smith (Our transit fairy) included. The struggle for better transit in the Lowcountry has been a long, hard one but we have progress to be proud of. There are hundreds of new shelters standing or planned for our exisiting bus lines. Service has been increase on the Northbridge and Dorchester Road routes. Ridership, though still below what it was before the pandemic is building. The LCRT, though reduced in scope, slowly advances towards construction and CARTA has stuck to it's guns in the controversy over the fairgrounds. There is a massive, now funded project to build affordable housing and walkable communties along and near Rivers Ave. Every inch of this progress was fought for and six of our core advocates have already taken their last ride. 

We hope when you crest across the dunes at IOP and you feel the cool, fresh breeze of the ocean that you will remember our departed friends. You can do that by scratching our symbol, taken from the Best Friend of Charleston into the sand, awaiting the return of the ocean to wipe it away. If you are there on a lucky day, you might be able to dig up some of our pirate treasure. 

Support our Work, More Information - To support the work of Best Friends of Lowcountry Transit you can contribute on Act Blue. For information or assistance contact William Hamilton at wjhamilton29464@gmail.com or 843-870-5299.

Charleston Must Fight for a Sustainable Future of Transit Equity

On Wed. May 15, 2024 we expect to be confronted by another large pressure group from the Fairgrounds Organization attempting to pressure the CARTA Board into giving up plans for a Lowcountry Rapid Transit Stop at the Fairgrounds. Last month a group of nearly all elderly, white men outnumbered Transit advocates 50 to 1. Politicians make decisions by counting noses. 

2018 Folly Road Freedom Campaign for transit to the beach. While not bus goes to Folly Beach, we did win a weekend shuttle to the Isle of Palms.

Please join us to demonstrate and make our voices heard during the public comment period of the CARTA Board Meeting starting at 12:45 pm at the Offices of the BCD Council of Governments on Casper Padgett Way in N. Charleston, #12 CARTA Bus Route. 

The Fairgrounds are now the last stop on the Northern end of the Rapid Transit line since the plan to go to Summerville was torpedoed by that Town’s good ole boy’s political gang. Ladson, the area around the Fairgrounds and Lincolnville (Charleston’s County’s historically black town) are the regions’ most affordable housing opportunities now. 

With over a million open jobs in the national tourism industry, skilled hospitality workers are in high demand. Recruiters from Charlotte, Miami and Atlanta have been seen in Charleston in the past. If you are young, strong, and mentally stable with skills in hospitality, these recruiters will help you move to a city where your rent will be lower, the schools will be better, and you’ll be a short, highly reliable ride on good public transit to work. As a transit rider, I’ve seen people I’ve been on the bus with for years, shake those recruiters’ hands, leave the bus stop to go to Starbucks and never be seen again. Other people have been recruiting for the healthcare industry in other cities.

In its 350-year history, Charleston has never really cared about the quality of life of its working class. From colonization, through slavery, the suppression of the mechanics, reconstruction and segregation Charleston’s rulers have always been able to count on people with little power or choice to do the hard work from cultivating rice to cleaning the toilets of tourists. Inadequate transit, along with poor education and overpriced, inadequate housing have been the tools which maintain the money machine which is greased by racism and class privilege.

However, the 21st Century has brought greater connectivity and mobility to America’s working class. Thirty years ago, finding a possible job in Atlanta, Denver or Orlando would have required poking through the want ads of days old newspapers purchased at the Book Bag on King Street, that, and finding an apartment, and knowing how the area’s transit worked can now all be done on a smart phone in minutes. Schools can be rated, local crime statistics found, and necessities priced in seconds online from a bench at a bus stop.  It is no longer hard to leave. 

In the bitter, divided politics of Trump era America, the belief that everyone should pull themselves up by their bootstraps and buy a car so they can sit in traffic for hours a day may satisfy the lucky retired person, who finished paying for their fifty Thousand dollars house a decade ago. They simply won’t drive to their next meeting of the fair committee until rush hour is over. When they’re too old to drive, they’ll disappear into the carless underclass that doesn’t matter. 

However, such delusions do not solve the problems of young families trying to build a life here as well as relocating to a good, transit served neighborhood in another city will. Those cities which have combined good transit with better paying employment, more affordable housing, better schools, and lower crime will claim the reliable, capable workers the future demands. 

Charleston will not be winning its long war against the future which has seen it decline from one of the leading cities in the American colonies to a tourist’s amusement park over the last 200 years. Rice cultivation, phosphate mining and the Navy Yard are all long gone. The real estate for retirees’ industry will eventually exhaust the available high land. The ocean is rising. The expectations of tourists for something authentic and friendly won’t be supplied by skeleton staffing or robots. 

For the first time in the history of the Holy City, it will be forced to value the quality of life of its working class or accepting the reality of an economy where the work does not get done. 

I am aware that the Exchange Club provides charitable donations. I’ve been informed that they intend to weaponize those donations to force their will on the community by forcing area nonprofits to support them. Their role in funding child abuse prevention is given prominence. 

Charity has not and will never solve the Lowcountry’s problems. The fundamental problems in our economy require major treatment and surgery, not band aids. Our private, child abuse prevention programs are often incompetent, tainted with racism and class bias and serve the needs of the people who run them. Families need jobs that pay, transit that works, safe places to live and decent schools. Without this, those families will fail. I know this from personal experience from 35 years of serving as an unpaid attorney in court appointed DSS cases. I have been in court where parents were threatened with the loss of their children because they couldn’t get to charity funded child abuse treatment appointments because we don’t have transit that works. 

I have been accused by members of the Exchange Club of being a know nothing woke do-gooder that meddles in public affairs. I’m white enough to get their approval, but I do the rest wrong. I have in fact been legally blind my entire life. I have never and will never be able to drive an automobile. I have been nearly killed crossing highways on foot and on bicycle to get to places I’ve needed to go. I fish for rides. I’ve paid fortunes for cabs, limos, and ride share. I have missed innumerable events because the cost to go there was simply too high, from my Senior Prom to the Mt. Pleasant farmer’s market. I’ve spent thousands of hours sitting at bus stops since the first SCE&G bus blew by me without stopping in 1977 on Coleman Blvd because white people in Mt. Pleasant did not ride the bus back then until last weekend’s delightful trip to Container Bar on the #20. I’ve done some of that waiting on bus stop benches I built with my own hands and paid for with my own money. I understand the cruel power of the car.

Left- Working for passage of the 2016 referendum on Highway 78 near the Fairgrounds. Campaign materials were handed out to passing cars stopped in traffic during the fair and delivered to Fair Management at the Fairgrounds. 

I have been told to leave the Lowcountry my entire life because I can’t drive a car. I probably should have, long ago. It’s too late now. My family arrived in SC in 1695. We’ve fought the Indians, the French, The Redcoats, the Yankees, the Germans, and the Japanese. We’ve built two schools two churches and one Town. I plan to stay. fight it out here and have my ashes interred beside those of my wife Julia who died after four years of helping me in this fight. I would like my ashes to be carried to Magnolia Cemetery on the LCRT. 

My decision to stay isn’t going to be too much of a disappointment to anyone. However, the young family packing up to take its energy, intelligence and capacity for hard work elsewhere will be missed. Their children and their grandchildren will be missed too. When the empty restaurant spaces and unopened hotel rooms are common enough, perhaps Charleston’s ruling class will grasp what they’ve missed.

The Lowcountry Rapid Transit Line should be built in the form promised to voters in 2016 in  the half million dollar I26 Alt Study with a stop at the Fairgrounds, all the way to Summerville, connecting with our train station, running outside of traffic into downtown Charleston. Less won’t resolve our region’s growing workforce deficiency. Charleston’s indifference to the quality of life of ordinary working people is no longer sustainable. It must end. 

William J. Hamilton, III, Exec. Director, Best Friends of Lowcountry Tranist, wjhamilton29464@gmail.com or (843) 870-5299